


Coping mechanism

by orphan_account



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Blood and Gore, C-137, C137cest, Character Death, Dark, Depressing, Gore, Heartbreak, I guess Rick is a bit ooc, Incest, M/M, Morty loses Rick, Rick cant live without Morty, Rick creates a Robot Morty, Rick is heartbroken, Rick loses Morty, RickMortycest, Suicide, but I want him to care more since Morty is well dead, robot!Morty - Freeform, woah there satan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-30 23:39:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Morty dies on an adventure and it's all Rick's fault. Rick can't take it and almost loses his mind. Therefore, he creates a robot version of Morty to cope with the loss of his Morty. Will Robot Morty mend Rick's heart or will he make things worse?





	1. Chapter 1

"C-c'mon Morty! We're going to CC-137 today! I'm gonna find -BURP- a cure for the Cronenberg's cause I'm the best! Fuck yes! And I need your help!” Rick cried proudly and grabbed Morty's arm tightly.

"B-but R-Rick! You said I could be in school today!" wailed Morty and crossed his arms with an angry glance toward Rick.

Rick laughed and shook his head,

"Yadda, yadda Morty! It doesn’t matter, school is for losers! A better -BURP- thing to do is if we can find a cure for C-137!" He dug up the portal gun from his lab coat and aimed it towards the lockers in the hallway. A big vomit-green portal opened and Rick drew Morty in.

After a few seconds of whirling, they left the portal and ended up in Dimension C-137. The Cronenberg monsters ate each other, buildings were on fire, a smell of blood and burned meat were thick in the air. Morty’s face turned green of nausea, he would throw up at any minute. Rick rolled his eyes and drew the boy next to him.

"Ig-ignore w-w-what you see and focus -BURP- on the mission," said Rick quietly and stroked Morty’s curly head quickly. 

Morty looked into Rick's eyes and nodded.

"I'll try," he said with disgust in his voice and drew a sharp breath.

Rick smiled and nodded,

"Come n-now Morty, we have things to do!"

They went with quick steps toward a ramshackle house without any Cronenberg's in sight. Rick scrambled through debris and were suddenly fascinated by something gleaming in the dirt.

"I think I found something M-Morty! Something we can use to fix this hell's dimension again!” he said happily and grabbed it.

A loud roar echoed between the houses, a big disgusting Cronenberg with three arms and eyes as a snail appeared before them. Its mouth was dripping with drool and a fat tongue licked around its lips.  
"Fooooood!” the monster belched and showed his great row of teeth. Between the teeth, parts from a human were stuck. Morty could glimpse a rib and a smooshed brain between the yellow teeth. He felt hot liquid soaking down his underwear. His face flushed and he cried awkwardly when he realized he had peed himself in fear.

"R-Rick, I j-just peed myself... and th-this Cronenberg ..." Morty almost fainted from fear. He bounced back and went into a wall, losing consciousness for a few seconds.

"You're disgusting M Morty!” Rick replied, he hadn’t heard the last of the sentence. He was busy trying to catch the gleaming object. A loud shriek from Morty almost blasted his ears. He turned his eyes to where Morty stood just a few seconds ago. A gigantic Cronenberg had Morty’s head between its long teeth. Blood poured from the holes where the teeth had broken Morty’s skull. Morty’s eyes were bloodshot and seemed to pop out of his head any second.

"NO! Morty!" Rick yelled, his voice horrified and ran to the monster without thinking. He pulled the jaws of the monster with pure willpower and took the lifeless Morty in his arms. He fumbled to get the portal gun from lab coat pocket. Tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes, they burned his cheeks. Finally, he managed to get hold of the gun and created a portal. He ran into the portal with Morty hanging in his arms.

They tumbled down on the floor in the garage, Rick still held Morty while throwing away stuff that were in the way from the table. They fell noisily down on the floor. Footsteps were heard outside and a light knock on the door sounded.

"Dad? Is everything all right in there?" Beth's voice had a slightly worried tone. Rick didn’t have time to answer, he had to rule out everything that could distract him from saving Morty's life. He was not a doctor, but he quickly looked through the damage the monster had caused to Morty’s small head. A pink liquid leaked from the deep holes, the liquid had smeared itself through the curly hair. It smelled iron. Morty’s eyes were now two bloody lumps in his eye sockets.

Rick pressed two fingers against Morty’s neck, still hoping, still wishing he would feel something. But nothing. No flutter from Morty’s heart greeted his fingertips.

Nausea roiled in Rick's stomach and a feeling of complete indifference fell over him. A salty taste filled his mouth from his tears still dripping from his eyes.

Morty was dead and it was his fault.

"Dad?" Beth's voice had now risen an octave and she knocked vehemently at the door. "Are you crying?"

Rick fell weeping on the floor with his face buried in his hands. The stabbing pain inside his chest was unbearable. A sharp thorn dug itself into his heart.

"Jerry! Please help me open the door, something is going on out there!" Beth's voice cut through the silence in the house and Rick heard Jerry's running footsteps.

"What do you mean something is going on in there?" asked Jerry concerned while he tried to pick the door.

Rick wrapped Morty’s body in a white towel that hung in one of the cabinets and held him close to his pounding heart as he opened a new portal and disappeared from the garage.

Jerry kicked the door open and Beth ran in, almost slipped on the blood that still dropped down from the table on the floor.

She screamed and Jerry took hold of her.

"Where is Morty? Where is dad?" She cried, horrified. Her eyes filled with tears and Jerry hugged her harder.

"Everything will be all right, you'll see," he tried to comfort her while a feeling of doom dug into his chest.

What had happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first R&M fanfic. Still trying to learn about the characters and such. hope you liked the first chapter! It will only go downhill from here.


	2. Chapter 2

They ended up in the first dimension Rick think of. They had only been there once before, but back then, they had left as soon as dawn broke. The sun's face met them behind the clouds and it was screaming one last time before it went down the horizon. Rick let out a breath of relief and hoped that the night would be long. He stared at the nearly shining red spots of blood leaking through the fabric from the towel covering Morty's body.

Morty. Dead. His fault.

A shiver went over Rick's body as he carefully put Morty’s body on the floor in the small living room. What would he do? What would he say to Beth? To Jerry? To Summer? He felt the taste of bile and sank down on his back next to the body. He pulled the towel-covered Morty next to his chest and hummed silently. An old but simple melody he had hummed for Beth when she wouldn’t stop crying as a baby. Tears dripped along his cheeks, his nose was clogged. He could hardly breathe. 

_Serves me right_ , he thought bitterly. 

The thorn in his heart reminded him and he drew a trembling breath of pain.

_You deserve all pain you’re going through. You killed the only one you cared for. You've murdered your sole reason to live. You fucking idiot. You cursed bastard. Disgusting pig._

The voices became louder inside his head and a sad sound broke from Rick's throat. The tears left big wet spots on the towel. They mixed with the blood stains and became pink.

Rick rose quickly, ran out and vomited up the little that was in his stomach. The taste of bile was now overwhelming in his mouth. 

"M-M-Morty," he cried desperately. Crickets played in the coming darkness. Stars blinked in the sky. Everything was as usual on the small planet, but not for Rick. Nothing would even come close to "usual" again.

\--------------------

His beard had grown a few inches when Rick finally got hold of a mirror. He didn’t recognize the man in the mirror looking back at him. Someone else looked back at him with blood-blown, tired eyes, bushy beard and stress-induced wrinkles around his eyes. He put the mirror down and quickened his steps.

"L-Look M-Morty! We're gonna use this f-for you," Rick stuttered and showed the mirror for the now smelly body that was still in the same place on the floor. Rick’s stutter had become so much worse in just a month. Morty's body, however, had begun to rot. Flies had laid eggs in what was left of his eyes. The head had stopped leaking the pink liquid. The face had sunk to the bones and his mouth was dry, pale and had dark blue spots.

Rick sat in front of a copy of Morty, the only thing that really separated them from each other were the glassy eyes the copy of Morty had. Their glassy surface, however, wasn’t visible if you didn’t look at the eyes very close. Another thing that separated the two Morty’s from each other was the hatch in the back of Morty’s head. It was now open. When the hatch was closed, it was very well hidden behind the brown hair.

Rick was kneeling behind the copy of Morty with a screwdriver in his hand. He carefully split the mirror into small pieces and attached them to a disc that resembled a motherboard from a computer. The Morty Robot gave a mechanical sound when the mirrors came into place in his brain. Rick whimpered with pure euphoria. Had he succeeded? 

Robot Morty went still and froze. Rick muttered in frustration.

"W-Why’re y-you not working? What are you missing?" he snarled and gently closed the cover to the motherboard and then he lay the robot on the floor. He moved and sat across the robot. He gently pulled up the yellow shirt and revealed a very human-like chest, with a navel and nipples. The skin was almost as soft as Real Morty's skin. Rick had been fighting for several days to make the synthetic skin as soft and warm as a real human being and he was very pleased with himself succeeding.

He opened the cover to Robot Morty's chest. A mechanical heart beat in there. He closed the lid carefully and pulled the shirt down, covering Morty’s chest.

"Everything is the way it should... what's missing?" Rick asked loudly with a sharp tone of sadness in his voice. He glanced towards real Morty and sighed. Had his struggle to find materials for the robot been in vain? He had almost lost an arm in his attempt to find materials. His arm was still in pain from a couple of deep scratches.

The sun was raging out there and a sharp headache made Rick’s ears ring. He got up, stomped out on the yard and roared back to the sun in pure frustration.

"SHUT UUUUP!"

The sun went quiet and stared amazed at the little man who were shouting at it. It went silent and disappeared behind the mountains. The night drove quickly over the planet and Rick returned to the cottage.

"R-Rick? Who- Who's this?" Morty's troubled voice almost stopped Rick’s heart. The pain from the thorn in his heart became a little easier. Robot Morty stood next to the body hidden under the towel and had a look of disgust on his face.

"Are-are these blood stains? Have you done this?" Morty's glassy eyes were big and worried.

"M-M -..." Rick could barely say his name. "Morty ..." he whispered breathlessly, and in a few steps, he was in front of the boy and embraced Robot Morty in a rough hug.

He hadn’t done anything with the robot before he had gone out. How could the robot be alive? He didn’t know, but made a quick note in his head, he needed research more when they were home and make a backup of the data inside Morty.

Morty smiled a bit insecurely and returned the hug. 

"Rick ..." he murmured and Rick felt how Morty's cheeks got hot when Rick gave his head a quick kiss.

"I’ve missed you so much," Rick whispered into Morty's brown curls. A few tears escaped his eyes and dropped into Morty's hair.

"Missed me? I-I’ve b-been here all along! B-but Rick, w-what... who's under the blanket?" Morty quietly asked while listening to Rick's heartbeat against his ear.

"I-it’s... Nothing special. A failed experiment", Rick lied and wondered why he lied. He had nothing to hide. Or did he?

"B-b-but, where are we? What are we doing here?" Morty let go of Rick, his forehead was wrinkled. "You’re hiding something from me," he said with a sharp tone in his voice.

Rick raised his hands as if he were to be blamed for the accusations.

"We are here on a mission, you became unconscious andUUURP- I had to fight the-the thing beneath the blanket. You just woke up."

Morty gave Rick a skeptical glance, but nodded.

"I believe in you Rick. But are we done with the mission here? Can we go home?" he wondered.

Rick nodded,  
"Yes, yes, we can. I have to fix one thing first." He smiled stressed and gave Morty's cheek a quick caress before he reached for the shutdown button. The light in Morty's eyes went out and he fell on the floor. Rick caught him before he reached the floor. 

Rick carefully laid Morty’s head on the floor and gave his trembling hands a look. Robot Morty didn’t know that he was just a substitute for the real Morty, if he found out, it could have devastating consequences. Rick wiped away some sweat droplets from his forehead. He must calm down, otherwise Morty would suspect him even more. He couldn’t let Morty know anything.

_I must get rid of the body..._ he thought, glanced at the body under the towel. He approached it and lifted Morty into his arms and went out into the yard. He found a shovel and began to dig a deep pit. After half an hour of digging he had made a deep enough pit. He kissed Morty's brow through the fabric and carefully lowered him into the ground. Tears dropped when he covered the pit with soil. When he was finished he fell beside the grave on his knees and laid his hand on the ground.

"I love you now and forever..."

He wiped his tears with a piece of his lab coat and took a gulp from his bottle.

"I'll be back", he mumbled to the grave and went back into the cottage. Robot Morty was still shut, his eyes were gray and lifeless, but Rick could still hear a weak ticking from the mechanical heart's gear. He raised the portal gun and opened a portal, then he put Morty into his lap and hit the button. Morty's eyes flashed alive and he looked confused at Rick.

"What happened?" Did I faint?" he asked with a newly awake voice.

Rick shook his head,

“N-no, you just fell asleep. Come M-Morty, we're going home," said Rick, and they disappeared, together, into the green light.


	3. Chapter 3

Beth and Jerry shouted in surprise when Rick and Morty came out of the portal. Rick took hold of Morty's hand, but released it as soon as he saw that his daughter looked at them.

"Dad! Morty!" Beth cried out with tears in her eyes and released Jerry to hug them both. "I was so worried! You just disappeared and-"

Rick interrupted her.  
"It's okay, sweetie, we're okay," he said calmly and stroked her quickly over the cheek.

Jerry raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms skeptically.

"It didn't seem like everything was alright... there was blood in here, Beth almost slipped and-" Rick shook his head and gave Jerry an angry glance.

"We're okay. The blood came from my arm," he said harshly and looked forward to Morty. A warm feeling spread in his chest when Morty nodded and smiled at his parents.

"It's f-fine mom and dad. W-we're okay," he said.

"But your wounds dad, they must be checked up!" Beth said uneasily, moving her fingers along the wounds. "I can call one of my colleagues at work, so they can come here and help you."

Rick shook his head,  
"That's not needed Beth. I can handle it. W-We just need to rest a little. It was a tough adventure, what do you say Morty?"

Morty smiled a bit in reply and were just about to answer when he was interrupted by Summer storming into the garage.

"Rick! Where the hell have you been?" she shouted. Morty looked scared at her and hid behind Rick, like a small child.

"Summer!" said Beth, clearly annoyed and approached her and briefly told me what had happened.

Summer sighed,  
"Okay, sorry I care about my little brother!" she said irritated and stamped out of the garage.

"Teenagers..." Beth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dad, you need to freshen up. Take a shower and change clothes and I'll help you with the wounds later," she added with a smile.

Rick didn't feel the need to shower. He didn't want to leave Morty for a second. What if someone clicked the off button? Or noticed that Morty didn't behave normally? The risks were too big.

"I'm fine, d-don't worry," he said with a smile. "C-cmon M-Morty, let's go," he said, grabbing Morty's arm.

"Where are we going? I want to be home!" protested Morty with a whiny voice. "We have just returned!"

Rick frowned and sighed annoyingly. He had to change the program because something was not right.

"Fine," Rick sighed irritated. "We can go watch some Interdimensional Cable instead?" Rick suggested and softened his grip of Morty's arm.

"W-why do I h-h-have to do everything with you? Maybe I wanna do something my own for a change!" Morty snarled and moved his arm from Rick's grip.

Rick felt his heart breaking. Piece by piece. Something was really wrong with the program. What had he missed?

Jerry looked awkwardly at them.  
"I'll go to...town! And buy some... errr... pastries!" He said, hurrying out to the car.

Beth crossed her arms with a quizzical expression on her face. "Morty what's up? Did something happen between you out on the adventure?"

"I-I don't kn-know! Rick is a god damn liar!" Morty's mechanical eyes flashed. Rick's heart beat faster.

"C-come Morty, we need to talk!" Rick stuttered and gave Beth a firm glance with his eyes. She took the hint and went out of the garage with a sigh. Rick heard how she called for Jerry to wait.

"M-Morty calm theUUURP fuck down!" he hissed and shook Morty's shoulders in an attempt to calm him.

Morty's eyes flashed fiercely and suddenly his entire body froze. His eyes became gray and he was shut off. The body was relaxed in Ricks embrace. Panic and fear took hold of Rick.

"F-fuck", Rick panicked and searched for materials among the boxes to fix Robot Morty. He found screws, nails, strange alien material from other planets and dimensions. He opened the lid of Morty's head and the disc was exposed. He fiddled with the disc for a while and managed to get it together. He went to the memory room and put Morty into the chair. He placed the memory helmet on Morty's head and injected Morty's memories into the artificial brain. When it was finished, he made a backup of the data and hid the two tubes well in the memory room. Hopefully they would never go there again. 

Rick carried Morty from the chair and went back to the garage. He switched the ON-button.

Morty's eyes turned on, they flashed a few times before he got up and looked confused at Rick.

"R-Rick?" His voice was scared.

Rick pulled Morty next to him and placed him in his lap.

"Hush, I'm here," he murmured and caressed the brown curls.

"I feel weird," Morty said, touching the closed lid in the back of his head. The memories that had returned must've made him confused. 

Rick closed his hand on Morty's wrist and shook his head softly.

"The-there's nothing to worry about," he said calmly. Morty seemed to calm down.

"You smell funny," said Morty with a careful smile. Rick laughed and nodded.

"I should shower but ..." he went silent and looked away.

"But what?"

"No nothing," Rick said quickly and kissed Morty's cheek. It was warm and soft. He'd really managed to make the skin lifelike. A sting of pain went through his arm. Morty's hand lay placed over the scratches.

"Wh-wh-what happened Rick? Was that my fault?" Even Robot Morty blamed himself for everything that went wrong. 

"No, no, it wasn't your fault. I just fell an-UUURP hurt myself. No worries," replied Rick.

"Hmm..." said Morty, not convinced

"Do you want to shower together?" he then asked.

Rick's face went tomato red and he laughed nervously. He had difficulties keeping his face straight.

"Wh-what t-the f-fuck are you saying Morty?" he wondered on the verge of hysterical.

"It was a thought just struck me," Robot Morty said innocently, drawing a finger under Rick's bearded chin. 

"I-I can help you shave," Morty added quietly with a cute smile.

Rick coughed and tried to ignore the hot heat that warmed between his legs. Luckily, he had thought of making Morty waterproof.

"W-we can try Morty," he said nervously but at the same time excited. The relationship between Rick and the Real Morty had never come this far. They had only been at the beginning of the relationship, with a kiss or two at times.

Morty rose from Rick's arms. Rick already missed his warmth. It was already so easy to forget he wasn't human.

"I-I will put a soundproof system around us M-Morty. So Summer doesn't hear any noise," Rick smiled gently and looked around inside the boxes that were placed on the floor.

Morty blushed slightly.

"I'm going to the bathroom in the mean time," he said, leaving the garage. Rick heard his step as he walked up the stairs.

Rick collected himself for a few seconds before he found the instrument he needed to make their noises silent. He quickly looked into the TV room before continuing to the second floor. Summer slept in the armchair with a bowl of popcorn in her lap.

When Rick entered the bathroom, Morty had already been undressed, his naked skin became almost translucent in the light from the window. Gears, mechanical pumps and circuits shone through the skin. Rick blushed and hurried to use the instrument that would hide the sound that came from them.

The steam rose from the hot water in the bathtub and Morty stepped in with careful steps.

"Ohhhh! Hot!" he sighed pleasantly and closed his eyes.

"I'm glad M-M-Morty," Rick murmured and took off his clothes. He stepped into the water and sat down in the bathtub face to face with Morty. 

Morty swam toward Rick and placed himself in Rick's lap with his eyes facing Rick.

"H-hey," he said nervously, smiling. Rick digged his fingers into Morty's hair and pushed lightly, so Morty moved his face closer to Ricks. Their lips met and they kissed slowly. 

Rick felt at home, a calm that only Morty could make him feel.

\----------

"Woah, you're looking clean! Did both of you take a shower?" asked Beth with a laugh. She stood in the kitchen with several bags of pastries in her arms.

If she only knew, Rick thought with a sly smile.

"Now you look more like yourself dad," she said with a smile and kissed him on newly shaven cheek. Rick smiled at her.

"What did you buy?" Morty asked curiously and sat down at the kitchen table.

Jerry took the bags from Beth and emptied their contents on small plates.

"We have bought crossaints, donuts and meringues," he replied, putting the pastries on the table.

Beth woke Summer who entered the room with tired steps. She sat at the table with a yawn.

The Smith and Sanchez family gathered at the table and ate the pastries, drank coffee and talked. Nobody seemed to notice that Morty chewed and chewed without swallowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21/9 
> 
> I added a part to the end.


	4. Chapter 4

"W-wake u-up M-Morty, we're… We have to go!"

Rick stepped into Morty's room, drunk. He stumbled into Morty's bed, put his arm around Morty's chest and drew him close. He took a deep breath and took Morty's scent into his lungs. He smelled like plastic and synthetic material. Rick frowned, a voice resounded through the fog of intoxication.

_Robot. Machine. Not real._

His stomach bubbled worriedly. The alcohol he’d drunk was on its way up.

"M-M-Morty", he breathed heavily into Robot Morty's hair. His eyes burned with tears.

"R-Rick?" Morty muttered silently and turned to Rick. His mechanical eyes gave the room a dim light. "Wh-what’s w-wrong? Are y-you crying Rick?" His voice was worried.

"M-M-Morty..." Rick mumbled sadly and pressed his body against Morty’s. Morty held him close and stroked his hair softly.

"What's wrong? A-Are you drunk?"

Rick didn’t answer. The sorrow lay like a heavy blanket over him. How could he think a robot could replace the real Morty? What was he thinking? The tears burned his eyes a last time before they ran over.

"R-Rick ...?" Morty whispered worriedly and stroked his tears away with his fingers.

"Morty... You..." The words disappeared. He couldn’t tell Robot Morty what he was. Rick went silent and sobbed.

"I-I'm what Rick? What do you mean?" asked Morty as he gently caressed Rick's cheek.

"No... it's... it's nothing ... you n-need to sleep Morty. I shouldn’t have disturbed you. I'll see you tomorrow," Rick muttered and tried to get up from the bed, but Morty clung to him.

"I-I love you Rick," Morty whispered, his cheeks blushing. Rick's heart dropped. This Morty had real Morty's memories. The three words would come sooner or later, that was inevitable. But could Rick really love a copy of an original?

He pulled himself out of Morty's grip and stumbled against the door, closed it behind him and tripped towards the garage. Tried to ignore Morty's sad facial expression that burned on his retina. He locked the door afterwards and pulled his bottle out of the pocket. He took a few gulps, the alcohol burned his throat, a shiver went over his back.  
He sat down at the desk and searched the boxes, pulled them out one by one. A red gun appeared in one of the boxes.

 **IN CASE OF EMERGENCY** , it said on a note that was firmly tied to the gun.

Rick took a tight hold of it, brought the pipe to his mouth and fingered the trigger.

_I should kill myself. I have done nothing but wrong. I've screwed up everything for everyone. I'm a mess. I deserve to fucking die._

But something prevented him from firing the gun. Morty lying in the bed upstairs was certainly not a human but he had Morty's memories. Maybe it was worth living for?  
He decided to give his pathetic life a last chance. He hid the gun with a sigh and stared at nothing.

\------

Hard knocking on the door made Rick wake up from his sleep. The hangover was like needles in his head. He blinked a few times before he opened his eyes completely. His neck hurt as he stretched out into the chair in which he had fallen asleep.

"Dad? You okay in there? Clock's almost 3 pm," Beth's anxious voice cut into his ears.

"I'm fine! D-don't... don’t sweat it," he shouted back and scratched his hair with an irritated sigh.

"Do you want anything to eat? I can make something for you before I go to work," said Beth softly. She really cared about her dad.

"N-no ..." murmured Rick. His tongue was thick and sticky in his mouth. He would rather dig a tunnel and never come up again than going to the kitchen right now.  
Beth went away with a disappointed sigh.

Another knock on the door. Rick sighed.

"Yes?"

"A-Are we going on an adventure today R-Rick?" Morty's voice on the other side of the door was small and more worried than usual.

"Don’t you need to go to school today Morty?" Rick said, and almost regretted his choice of tone voice. He sounded angry and bitter.

"N-no, it's Labor Day today. I thought I said that to you yesterday," he answered quietly. Rick heard how he sat down outside the door.

"I-I want to feel your body..." he whispered quietly so only Rick could hear.

Rick's heart beat two fast beats, his mouth went dry. He got up from the chair and unlocked the door. Morty came in, closed and locked the door quickly.

"M-Morty..." he murmured when Morty almost threw himself into Rick’s arms.

"Are you angry with me? What have I done? Please tell me," Morty's body shivered from his sudden crying. The smell of liquid metal filled the room.

Rick looked down on Morty's eyes with dreadful delight. They were filled with dripping mercury, which became small bullets when they landed on the floor. He marveled over his imaginative brain.

"P-please R-Rick..." Morty sobbed and tugged at Rick's lab coat.

"S-shut it you little turd," Rick suddenly growled, pissed off. Morty looked shocked at him with his eyes full of mercury.

"We have stu-UUUURP-ff to do, so stop crying and take a hold off yourself!" He pushed Morty away from him, not knowing exactly why since he loved being close to Morty.

Morty gave Rick a hurt look. The mercury stopped dropping and he wiped his nose with his arm.

"O-okay ... what are we doing then R-Rick?"

"Helping Birdperson", was Rick’s answer.

He opened a portal, went into it and dragged Morty with him.

\----

"Oh shit! Oh jeez! Oh fuuuuck!" screamed Morty while he, Rick and Birdperson fought against an angry burning Phoenix. It screeched loudly to the sky and made another blow to them. This time, the claws hit Morty's arm. He shouted with pain. Metal pieces from his arm scattered everywhere.

"MORTY!" Rick yelled and ran to his side and lifted him up.

"M-m-my arm!" Morty wailed.

Birdperson flew into the air and grabbed the phoenix with his hands and broke its neck. Its fire burned out and it dropped down to the ground. Birdperson picked up both Rick and Morty with his claws and flew them back to his nest. He landed softly. Rick spat out a bunch of feathers that had flown into his mouth.

"M-my aaaarm," Morty moaned, upset.

Birdperson gave Morty’s injured arm a sharp look.

"Are you a..."

Rick shook his head sharply.

"I'm in a lot of fucking pain!" Morty spat and gave Rick a helpless look. "Are you gonna h-help me or not?!"

Birdperson looked suspiciously at Rick but said nothing.

"Y-UUUURP-eees Morty. I-I'll help you," Rick said calmly, looking around in Birdperson's nest to find something he could use to repair Morty's arm with.

"I can find bandages, I will be right back," said Birdperson, disappearing with a few flutters of his wings.

Morty looked at the wounds on Rick's arm, they were bleeding again. The phoenix must have ripped them open. Red blood drops dripped from the wounds. He turned his eyes to his own arm and looked at the mechanical parts that sparkled electricity.

"Rick...?" he said with a quiet voice.

"Hmm?"

"Why... why don’t I bleed like you?" asked Morty anxiously. "My blood is colored silver, but yours is red..."

Rick froze. This event must be deleted from Morty's memory as soon as they return home. He tried to think of a good reason that wouldn’t make Morty freak out totally. Something that could keep him calm until they came home.

"Because you are different Morty. Y-you’re n-not like other teenagers. It's that simple," replied Rick, stroking Morty's cheek sweetly.

“B-b-but Rick... What you say doesn’t match w-with my memories... I have memories of bleeding before and th-the blood were red. I-I have seen my wounds and my skin didn’t look the way it looks now. Th-this j-just reminds me of a-a r-robot!” The boy suddenly became angry and rose from the floor.

"Y-you’re hiding something for m-me! T-this doesn’t go w-with my memories at all!"

Rick put his hands over Morty's shoulders.

"Y-UUUURP-ou n-need calm down a little M-Morty. It's no d-d-danger. You’re sa-safe with m-me", Rick said calmly and moved his fingers closer to the OFF button. He hated that he lied.

Morty's eyes were filled with mercury tears.

"I-I'm so confused, nothing i-is right. W-wh-what's going on R-Rick?" He sobbed. The mercury tears dropped onto the floor. Rick gazed sadly at him and kissed him quickly over his mouth. Morty answered the kiss immediately, almost desperate. He let out a sharp breath and pressed his body against Rick's.

"Forgive me," Rick whispered against Morty's lips when he gave the button a switch. Morty's body froze and collapsed with a buzzing sound.  
Rick sighed sadly.

Birdperson came flying and landed next to him with a few machine parts between his claws. Rick thanked him for the trouble and repaired Morty's arm in a few minutes.

"What have you done Rick? Where is the real Morty?" Birdperson asked. They were sitting next to Morty’s body, looking at him. Rick had a beer bottle in his hand while Birdperson had a bowl of worms. Rick took a gulp of his beer and burped loudly.

"M-Morty is dead. A Cronenberg took him. I couldn’t do anything. I was too busy with myself. I-I'm a fucking idiot. When the Cronenberg took him, it was already too late, it broke his skull in less than a minute. I-I buried him and started building this... this thing," he said quietly and gesticulated with his hands against Robot Morty's body.

"You've really done a good job. I am very fascinated by your work with Robot Morty. But why did you take the real Morty's memories and put them into the robot?" Birdperson asked with his monotonous voice as he snatched a worm.

Rick’s eyes were filled with pain as he looked at Birdperson.

"B-because... I c-c-can't live without h-him." His voice trembled and tears burned again in his eyes. The pain in his chest became unbearable and a sad, heart-wrenching sound broke from Rick's throat. Birdperson embraced him with his wings and hugged him.

"He's my only r-reason to live. I j-just... I can’t live... if Morty is not in my l-life... I couldn’t... b-bear with t-the pain of losing him," Rick sniveled sorrowfully. “I k-know I’m a fucking selfish bitch, but I j-just… I can’t b-be without M-Morty…”

"I understand Rick. I am not judging you by any means. But I do have a question," said Birdperson quietly and stroked a tear away with one of his many wing tips.

"W-what?"

"What are you going to do when Robot Morty becomes more self-aware that he's actually a robot? He will not be happy about it. You lying I mean."

Rick's heart dropped. He hadn’t thought that far. He wanted to live in the present as much as possible. But that day would come. Would he continue to erase Robot Morty's memories? How long was it sustainable? In what way was it ethical to let a robot believe that it was a human being?

"I don’t know BP. I do not... I don’t know... " Rick whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I write I always imagine Birdperson more birdlike than he actually is in the show... So, he's more like a harpy in my fic than a guy with feathers.


End file.
